Page:The Life of Mary Baker Eddy (Wilbur).djvu/390



LTHOUGH Mrs. Eddy had withdrawn from active participation in the work of her church, her withdrawal was in the nature of retirement and not seclusion. She did not go into a selfish privacy at Pleasant View, but remained actively engaged in many duties which her position required of her. She no longer edited the Journal, preached from a pulpit, or taught regular classes, but she continued to contribute articles to the Journal, to send annual messages to her church, and to receive those who had the right to her counsel. She made several visits to Boston in the interest of the Mother Church and received annually for several years large numbers of communicants from many parts of the country. She prepared articles for the press on request, and, besides revising her book “Science and Health” from year to year, gathered together and edited some of her scattered articles which she published under the title “Miscellaneous Writings.”

Life at Pleasant View fell into that regularity which facilitates the highest order of usefulness. Mrs. Eddy had living with her a quite numerous household. Mrs. Laura Sargent, her companion, took active charge of the household régime, and her sweet-tempered direction of the servants, her ceaseless